Chapter Four
Reid
It isn’t until I get back to my office that I realize I grabbed the wrong coffee cup from the cafe counter, in all of the chaos.
So now, not only am I late and flustered, but now I have to work for the next ten hours on this sugary sweet bullshit instead of my black americano.
It can’t get much worse than this, but at least it’s Saturday and I have the day off to rest tomorrow.
I just need to get this morning’s events out of my head and focus.
“Dr. Perry! Are you back here? Oh, there you are! We have a young lady here with a stray kitten, could you come take a look at her before we proceed?” Amanda, my vet tech, comes to find me at my desk.
“Oh yeah, yes, sorry I’ll be right up,” I respond, hoping to get lost in my work instead of my past.
Focus, Perry. I grab my microchip scanner and head to the front desk, but I barely round the corner before I think my mind is playing tricks on me again. You have to be shitting me.
We stop and stare at each other silently for a moment, both clearly in disbelief.
“What are the damn odds?” Caroline finally mutters, throwing her hands in the air.
“Sorry, ma’am?” Martha is utterly lost, bless her soul.
“Oh I’ve got this, this is an old friend Martha - can you go get labs on room 3 for me please?” I try to usher her away from the situation at hand.
“Sure, certainly,” she responds hesitantly, still confused but choosing not to question it.
“You just couldn’t stay away from me could you?” I smirk because at this point, life is a joke. We might as well make this fun.
“Oh please, don’t even.” She rolls her eyes at me. “Doctor? Since when are you a damn vet?” Caroline snarks back.
“Well, since I got my medical degree I guess?”
“What happened to the shelter? I knew you liked animals, but thought you were bound for business ownership,” she sounds a little more pleasant now.
“My dad still runs it. He takes them in, I treat them. It’s still a family business if you ask me.” I shrug and continue on. “But he’s had to take some steps back due to health issues lately, so I’m kind of running both places right now.” Not sure why I’m explaining this to her.
Why is this woman acting like she has any clue what I’ve been up to since she ran out of this place? Surprise, surprise Caroline. You’re not the only successful one in this town.
“Anyways, what do you need? How can I help?” I say as nicely as I can, cutting off my own tangent.
“I found this cat at the park. It’s really friendly, but I don’t know what to do with it so I came here.” She gestures toward the tiny calico fluff ball on the counter.
“Well, you’re in the right place. I’ll take a look at her. I’m guessing that means you don’t want her?” I raise my brows to give her a side glance, as I stroke the kitten's back, letting her familiarize herself with me before I scan for her chip.
“Uh no thank you. She’s all yours.” She does not hesitate.
Pfft, now she’s too good for animals?
“Suit yourself. She’s not chipped, so we’ll check around before I take her to my dad. Anything else that I can help you with today?” I rattle off, professionally, as if this were any other patient of ours.
“No, I think I’ve had enough of you today. Thanks” Caroline whips around. She storms off and heads towards the door.
“Oh, don’t forget your drink!” I smile as I extend my arm with the McDonald’s cup and she looks over her shoulder at me before snatching it from my hands and turning back for the exit. The ding of the door bell chimes and back to this shit day I go.